Youth Victim-Offender Mediation

Stephen was walking home one afternoon when a car full of teenagers pulled up next to him and offered him a ride. Never one to miss the opportunity for a good time, Stephen hopped in the car and found himself crammed in the back seat next to strangers. Stephen realized that while he knew the driver of the vehicle and one of the guys in the car, he didn’t know anyone else, and he deduced that the car was stolen. After a few blocks, Stephen noticed a car was following them. The driver saw the car as well and decided to try to race the car to get away. The vehicle was an unmarked police car and things escalated quickly. The car full of teenagers was in a chase with police vehicles and a helicopter got involved. Stephen realized things were serious when the vehicle was cornered, so he jumped out of the car and ran the first chance he got. Police officers chased him and, while attempting to jump a fence, Stephen cut his leg open badly. He was arrested and eventually his case was referred for family mediation at the Center for Conflict Resolution.

The day of the mediation, Stephen’s mom, Cheryl, was in no mood to talk to anybody. She had forgotten about the scheduled appointment and when CCR staff called to remind her she reluctantly appeared on the Zoom call. Stephen had not forgotten, though, and was ready to participate in the conversation. The mediator started the conversation by asking both Cheryl and Stephen about what occurred and gave them a chance to tell their stories to the mediator and to one another.

Chery talked about how frustrating it had been to get a call from the police that Stephen had been arrested. When she arrived to pick him up from the precinct, she was told that Stephen had been taken to the hospital. No one was able to give her any information about how seriously he was injured (or even how he had been injured) and her frustration turned to terror as she rushed to the nearby hospital to check on her son. Once she arrived at the hospital, she was told he had been discharged and sent to a different police facility for older teen offenders. It took hours for Cheryl to find Stephen and it had been a stressful and frightening experience for her. The mediator helped Cheryl talk about her experience, employing a trauma-informed approach and worked with Cheryl to express how serious the consequences for his behavior had been.

Stephen did not seem very moved by his mother’s story, but when she started to talk about the impact his behavior would have on his younger siblings, Stephen had more to say. Stephen recognized that getting arrested and being in danger was going to have serious consequences for his younger siblings. Stephen was proud of his role as big brother and the mediator spent time with Stephen talking about the influence he has on his siblings.

During the conversation, Cheryl became more and more engaged in the process. The mediator’s techniques of asking questions and facilitating the dialogue had created an environment where mother and son were able to communicate in a focused manner. Cheryl told the mediator it had been helpful and productive to talk about what was happening. By the end of the conversation, Stephen had agreed that he would not get into stolen cars and the two were working out ways to rebuild trust.